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Dublin house prices increase 7.7%

Lack of new construction and limited supply of family homes putting pressure on prices

Tue, Jul 23, 2013, 11:42Updated: Wed, Jul 24, 2013, 19:23

Christopher McKinley

Second hand house prices in Dublin have increased by 7.7 per cent since the start of the year, according to the latest Douglas Newman Good (DNG) property price gauge.

Second hand house prices in Dublin have increased by 7.7 per cent since the start of the year, according to the latest Douglas Newman Good (DNG) property price gauge.

The nationwide estate agency also said that prices have increased by 15.1 per cent, or €37,500, in the twelve months leading up to the end of June this year.

The agency added that the price bump is being driven by a number of factors including an improvement in confidence, the availability of mortgage finance and a limited supply of family homes.

Chief executive officer for Douglas Newman Good, Keith Lowe, said that a lack of new construction is putting upward pressure on prices and that 2013 appears to be the turning point in Ireland’s housing market.

“What has emerged is clearly a two tier market with property located in the greater Dublin area far out performing all other locations,” he said.

“Property prices in the capital are rising by over 1 per cent per month as demand is clearly out stripping supply”.

The average price of a second hand home in the capital is now €279,000. The south of the city performed best with an annual increase of 16.2 per cent followed by the north side at 16 per cent and the west recording a 10.7 per cent increase.

According to the report this is reflective of the fact that the most expensive priced property is located on the south side of city, which rose in value the most in the boom consequently fell the quickest in the crash. The west side, which would have many entry level priced houses, is recovering at a more moderate level of growth.

Houses in the lower and middle price brackets up to €350,000 performed best in the last quarter with a 4.5 per cent increase, however, houses worth more than €500,000 showed the biggest annual increase at 18.2 per cent.

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Homes worth less than €250,000 recorded the lowest annual increase (10.7 per cent). This segment of the market has traditionally been for first time buyers, which the report’s authors say has been hit hardest and remains constrained by unemployment and emigration.

Utilising data from the Irish Banking Federation (IBF) and the property price register the report also estimates that up to 62 per cent of the 4,774 sales in the first three months of the year were cash transactions, this compares with 47.6 per cent during the same period in 2012.

The property price register also estimates that the average transaction price of an Irish house was €191,320 for the period Jan to Apr 2013.

During this period Dublin houses were estimated to be €297,574 while those in the rest of Ireland were €140,243.

Between January and April of this year the total value of national housing transactions was also up 13 per cent. Monaghan showed a 131 per cent increase in the number of property transactions, the highest of all counties.